US and England to strike Syria in next several days

US and England to strike Syria in next several days

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Aug 25 13 5:53 PM

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Navy ready to launch first strike on Syria

Britain is planning to join forces with America and launch military action against Syria within days in response to the gas attack believed to have been carried out by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against his own people.

A couple mourn over the dead bodies of Syrian men after the alleged poisonous gas attack Photo: AP

By Tim Ross and Ben Farmer

10:00PM BST 25 Aug 2013

Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile strikes, alongside the United States, as military commanders finalise a list of potential targets.

Government sources said talks between the Prime Minister and international leaders, including Barack Obama, would continue, but that any military action that was agreed could begin within the next week.

As the preparations gathered pace, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, warned that the world could not stand by and allow the Assad regime to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people “with impunity”.

Britain, the US and their allies must show Mr Assad that to perpetrate such an atrocity “is to cross a line and that the world will respond when that line is crossed”, he said.

British forces now look likely to be drawn into an intervention in the Syrian crisis after months of deliberation and international disagreement over how to respond to the bloody two-year civil war.

The possibility of such intervention will provoke demands for Parliament to be recalled this week.

The escalation comes as a direct response to what the Government is convinced was a gas attack perpetrated by Syrian forces on a civilian district of Damascus last Wednesday.

The Assad regime has been under mounting pressure to allow United Nations inspectors on to the site to establish who was to blame for the atrocity. One international agency said it had counted at least 355 people dead and 3,600 injured following the attack, while reports suggested the true death toll could be as high as 1,300.

Syrian state media accused rebel forces of using chemical agents, saying some government soldiers had suffocated as a result during fighting.

After days of delay, the Syrian government finally offered yesterday to allow a team of UN inspectors access to the area. However, Mr Hague suggested that this offer of access four days after the attack had come too late.

“We cannot in the 21st century allow the idea that chemical weapons can be used with impunity, that people can be killed in this way and that there are no consequences for it,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary said all the evidence “points in one direction”, to the use of illegal chemical agents by Assad regime forces.

A Government source added that even if UN inspectors visited the site of the attack, “we would need convincing by the UN team that this was not the regime’s attack because we believe everything points to the fact that it was”.

Officials said the Assad regime has continued bombarding the area in the days since the attack, making it likely that any evidence which could establish who was responsible will have been destroyed.

Mr Cameron interrupted his holiday in Cornwall for talks with Mr Obama, François Hollande, the French president, and Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. After discussions via a secure telephone line over the weekend, all the leaders agreed on the need for a “serious response”. Government sources confirmed that military action was among the options “on the table” but said no decisions had been taken.

The Prime Minister, however, is believed to have abandoned hope of securing any further meaningful response from the UN amid opposition from Russia.

Labour said Parliament must be recalled if Mr Cameron was considering a military response, but Downing Street sources said this may not be necessary as the Prime Minister retained the right to act urgently if required.

Mr Cameron will face criticism for any British military involvement from many MPs, who believe the Armed Forces are already overstretched and must not be committed to another distant conflict.

Any retaliatory attack would be likely to be launched from the sea as the Syrian air force is judged to be strong enough to shoot down enemy jets.

A Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine is said to be in the region while a number of warships recently left Britain for exercises in the Mediterranean.

Commanders may also need to make use of the RAF base at Akrotiri, Cyprus for air support.

If military action is approved, the first wave of missiles could start within a week.

Military sources suggested the early hours of the 2011 campaign against Col Muammar Gaddafi could form a template for any operation. The Libya campaign began with a blitz of Tomahawk cruise missiles from US warships and from a British Trafalgar Class submarine.

The Royal Navy declined to comment on the current positions of its submarines, but they regularly pass through the area on their way to the Suez Canal.

America’s Sixth Fleet currently has four guided missile destroyers in the area, each of which could join the attack.

The Royal Navy also has its rapid response task force in the Mediterranean. The group includes two frigates and the helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious.

Navy sources said there were no plans to change the exercises, but the group provided “strategic contingency” if needed.

If someone told you in December of 2001 that the United States government would side with terrorist-linked factions in a Middle East civil war, what would you have said? Then add to the mix that the Russians were backing the country's government.

Obama isn't merely content to destroy this country, he wants to do it before his term is up. Sorry, Hillary, he's about to screw you again. Big time.

My sources included outstanding experts like
former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency General Eugene Tighe and returned
POWs like Captain Red McDaniel, who held the Navy's top award for bravery, had
commanded the aircraft carrier Lexington, and was director of liaison on
Capitol Hill for the Navy and Marine Corps. With such advocates providing back
up, it was hard not to consider the possibility that prisoners (some 3,500) had
in fact been kept by the Vietnamese communists as hostages to make sure the US
would pay the more than $3 billion in war reparations that Nixon had promised
before his fall from grace. Particularly compelling was the fact that of the 300
prisoners known to be held in Laos, not one was released for homecoming in 1973. - Monika Jenses-Stevenson, author "Kiss The Boys Goodbye"

It looks like Assad did use chemical weapons. That is taking barbarity to a new level. The Middle East seems to breed madmen. While the rebels are probably just as insane as the other players in this area of the world, anyone who stoops to the level of using chemical weapons needs to be dealt with. There are certain standards of behavior that govern human affairs, even in war, and when those standards are breached, the violator has to reap the consequences.

My sources included outstanding experts like
former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency General Eugene Tighe and returned
POWs like Captain Red McDaniel, who held the Navy's top award for bravery, had
commanded the aircraft carrier Lexington, and was director of liaison on
Capitol Hill for the Navy and Marine Corps. With such advocates providing back
up, it was hard not to consider the possibility that prisoners (some 3,500) had
in fact been kept by the Vietnamese communists as hostages to make sure the US
would pay the more than $3 billion in war reparations that Nixon had promised
before his fall from grace. Particularly compelling was the fact that of the 300
prisoners known to be held in Laos, not one was released for homecoming in 1973. - Monika Jenses-Stevenson, author "Kiss The Boys Goodbye"

terry wrote:It looks like Assad did use chemical weapons. That is taking barbarity to a new level. The Middle East seems to breed madmen. While the rebels are probably just as insane as the other players in this area of the world, anyone who stoops to the level of using chemical weapons needs to be dealt with. There are certain standards of behavior that govern human affairs, even in war, and when those standards are breached, the violator has to reap the consequences.

As sick as it sounds terry, I hope you're right. I don't want to wake one morning 20 years from now to find out that this gas attack was nothing more than another gulf of Tonkin.
Which, it probably is btw.
Assad was winning Che no? Why play the losing hand?

Democracy (Mob rule) is two wolves and a well armed lamb voting on what to eat for lunch. The United States of America, a Constitutional Republic, acknowledges and maintains that certain rights may never be taken, not even by a 99% vote. Make it your business to know the difference!

FOM theerant, 2012

“Either the mode in which the Federal Government is to be constructed will render it sufficiently dependent on the people, or it will not.” If it is “it will be restrained by that dependence from forming schemes obnoxious to their constituents”. If it isn't “it will not possess the confidence of the people and its schemes of usurpation will be easily defeated by the State Governments who will be supported by the people”.

At this point who the fu-k should you believe? This is not the time to piss off the old leader of the KBG. I don't like anything about the middle east. I feel a very large cluster fu-k happening here. I don't see any way that we come out of this without shyt stain all over. Just my opinion this will cause some shyt storm.

I still don't inderstand why we just can't team up with the Russkies, blow all the goatfuckers to hell, and split the spoils.

My sources included outstanding experts like
former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency General Eugene Tighe and returned
POWs like Captain Red McDaniel, who held the Navy's top award for bravery, had
commanded the aircraft carrier Lexington, and was director of liaison on
Capitol Hill for the Navy and Marine Corps. With such advocates providing back
up, it was hard not to consider the possibility that prisoners (some 3,500) had
in fact been kept by the Vietnamese communists as hostages to make sure the US
would pay the more than $3 billion in war reparations that Nixon had promised
before his fall from grace. Particularly compelling was the fact that of the 300
prisoners known to be held in Laos, not one was released for homecoming in 1973. - Monika Jenses-Stevenson, author "Kiss The Boys Goodbye"

I guess while the administration dithers in public, the Syrians will just stand by and not hide their assets from a tomahawk strike.

What side do you pick in the Middle East? Every side hates America, phuxk them all. Make an accommodation with someone you can play ball with. Who cares if it's a democracy guy or an enlightened despot?

Expecting democracy from an Arab is like giving a chimpanzee the nuclear launch codes. Neither knows what to do with the damn thing.

Assad has been a pain in our azz for years, it wouldn't bother me none if a errant missile took out his palace.

WITB-There ain't enough sober Russians to get the job done. If we hit Ass-ad, he hits israel and all bets are off, then Egypt blows a few emergency blows shutting down the canal or someone blows up the Aswan Dam and flushes Egypt into the Eastern Med. Any hit against the Syrians will be felt by the Iranians, who will strike back where they can.

"Give Me A Fast Ship For I Intend To Go In Harm's Way"

During WWII no other Naval Unit eclipsed the record of the Little Beavers lead by Captain "31 Knot Arleigh Burke." There are Sailors and there are
DESTROYER SAILORS. Fast sleek they seek out the enemy to engage at point blank range.

"Neptune was God, Mahan his prophet, and the United States Navy the only true Church"

I don't care if the Russians are shitfaced, they've been looking to get some major payback ever since they left Afghanistan with their tails between their legs.

Draw up a plan and take all the shitbirds out with one supreme 24-hour shot. They won't know whether to sh*t or go blind before they become part of the giant puddle of muck, and the Chinese will be sitting there going "Horee fvck!"

Then divvy it up and tell everybody to play nice or they'll get barbecued. End of story.

My sources included outstanding experts like
former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency General Eugene Tighe and returned
POWs like Captain Red McDaniel, who held the Navy's top award for bravery, had
commanded the aircraft carrier Lexington, and was director of liaison on
Capitol Hill for the Navy and Marine Corps. With such advocates providing back
up, it was hard not to consider the possibility that prisoners (some 3,500) had
in fact been kept by the Vietnamese communists as hostages to make sure the US
would pay the more than $3 billion in war reparations that Nixon had promised
before his fall from grace. Particularly compelling was the fact that of the 300
prisoners known to be held in Laos, not one was released for homecoming in 1973. - Monika Jenses-Stevenson, author "Kiss The Boys Goodbye"

WasInTheBag wrote:I don't care if the Russians are shitfaced, they've been looking to get some major payback ever since they left Afghanistan with their tails between their legs.

Draw up a plan and take all the shitbirds out with one supreme 24-hour shot. They won't know whether to sh*t or go blind before they become part of the giant puddle of muck, and the Chinese will be sitting there going "Horee fvck!"

Then divvy it up and tell everybody to play nice or they'll get barbecued. End of story.

A close friend of mine(a 20 yr retired veteran Det. from Intel) just got back from Afgan, after a 2 year stint working for a private contractor , contracted by The U.S Gov. He was there to cultivate informants and then turn them over to the U.S armed forces. His take is will will never gain control there as the Armed forces are trying to get schools up and going in the Villages , the powers to be in each village is against them . It's keep them dumb and uneducated and spread the propaganda of the evil U.S. . The stories are long and many & sad . basically these people wake up around 5:00 A.M. eat some type of flat bread with some bad coffee , then squat and stare at piles of rocks unless told to do different for the next 14 or so hours , the repeat the process. .. It's no win